Switch mechanism.



No. 887,324. PATENTED MAY 12, 1908. C. F, GAY.

SWITCH MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 24.. 190

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SWITCH MECHANISM.

Application filed July 24,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES F. GAY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington, have invented a new and Improved Switch Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in mechanism for operating switch tongues of railways, and the object is to provide a mechanism of this character that shall be simple in construction and that may be moved from inoperative position to a position for moving the switch tongue into its positions.

I will describe a switch mechanism embodying my invention and then point out the novel features in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan of a switch mechanism embodying a part of my invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof Fig. 3 is a front elevation partly in section of the complete mechanism; Fig. 4 is a side elevation there of; and Fig. 5 is a plan of a holding plate employed Referring to the drawings, 1 and 2 indicate the main rails of a railway track and coacting with one of the rails is a swinging switch tongue 3 which at its pivoted end is designed to direct the wheels of a car with a switch or branch rail 4. Attached to ties of the railway at any suitable point distant from the switch rail is a plate 5 and mounted to swing on this plate at opposite sides of a rail 1 are actuating arms 6, 7, the ends of which are curved inward toward the rail, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. From the pivotal point of the outer actuating arm 6 a plate 8 extends outward and from theend of this plate 8 a cable, chain or wire 9 passes into engagement with a grooved pulley 10 attached to a cross tie and adjacent to the outer side of the rail 1 and thence a drawing device; that is, a cable, chain or wire extends around a pulley 11 supported on a plate 12 secured to ties adjacent to the free end of the switch tongue. A drawing device then passes through the rail 1 or underneath the same and is rigidly connected to the switch tongue near its free end, and then the drawing device passes around a pulley 13 011 said plate 12 and thence Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 12, 1908.

1907. Serial No. 385,242.

around a pulley 14 opposite the pulley 10, and then to connection with the outwardly extended plate 15 to which the arm 7 is attached. The height of these arms 6 and 7 is substantially equal to the height of the rail, and obviously by swinging the arm 7 away from the rail, the drawing strain on the cable, chain or rope 9 will move the switch tongue 3 away from the rail 1, thus permitting ears to pass along said main rail, and obviously when the tongue is so moved, the end of the arm 6 will be moved toward the rail so that when engaged by a shifting device, it will be swung outward, reversing the position of the switch tongue or engaging the switch tongue with the main rail, as clearly indicated in Fig. 1.

I will now describe the means for operating the actuating arms from the platform of a car. This means comprises a shaft 16 having bearings at its ends in rods 17, the said rods 17 having swinging connection with the car truck frame 18. On one end of the shaft 16 and adapted to operate the actuating arms of a switch at one side of the railway are fingers 19-20 which are extended in opposite directions, while on the other end are fingers 21*2 which are also placed in parallelism, but projecting from opposite sides of the shaft, the last named pair of lingers being at right angles to the first named pair of fingers. These last named fingers are of course, to operate the arms of the switch tongue arranged along the rail opposite that first described. The shaft 16 has at its central portion bearings in a yoke 23 and secured to the shaft within the yoke is a bevel pinion 24 meshing with a bevel pinion 25, connected to the lower end of a rod 26 which passes up through an opening in the platform 27 of a car, and above said platform. 'At its upper portion the rod passes into the casing 28 and is connected to a holding or locking plate 29 employed, the said connection being through the agency of a sleeve 30, which is slidable in the casing, and between the lower plugged end of this sleeve and the platform of the car is a coiled spring 31 which serves to move the rod upward when released, and consequently move the shaft with its lingers into inoperative position. The plate is provided with two opposite lugs 3233, which are provided each with a notch 34, and on the late are also opposite upwardly extended iiigs 3536 provided each with a notch 37. To ease the vibratorial longitudinal movement of the shaft 16, springs surround said shaft at the opposite sides to the yoke 23 and engage said yo e at the inner ends, while the outer ends of the springs engage with collars 36 attached to the shaft.

The notches in the several lugs on the plate 29 are designed to receive a crank arm 37 rigidly connected to the upper end of the rod 26 and, of course, above said plate. In the operation, when it is desired to move the switch tongue, as shown in Fig. 1 out of engagement with the main rail 1, the finger 20 is to be turned in a downward direction,

which is done by a rotary movement of the rod 26 which imparts a rotary movement to the shaft. Upon approaching the actuating arms 6 and 7 the shaft is to be moved downward by downward pressure on the rod 26 so that said finger 20 will engage with the inner side of the actuating arm 7 causing a movement of the switch tongue, as before mentioned..

It is to be understood that switch tongue actuating devices are to be carried on each,

end of a car when they are applied to a street railway car.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a railway, a switch tongue arranged adjacent to a main line rail, arms mounted on opposite sides of said rail to swing in a horizontal plane toward and away from the main rail, a connection between said arms and the switch tongue whereby the movement of the arms will move the tongue, and means carried by a car and movable between the rail and one of said arms, for operating said arm to move the switch tongue in the desired direction.

2. In a railway, a switch tongue arranged adjacent to a main rail, shaft arms pivoted at opposite sides of the main rail at a point distant from the tongue, operative connections between the said tongue and arms, a shaft, a

car with which the shaft has swinging connection, fingers extended from the shaft in opposite directions, one of said fingers being adapted for engagement with the outer one of said arms and the other finger being adapted for engagement with the inner one of said arms, a rod extended upward, a gear connection between said rod and shaft, a spring for moving said rod upward, and means for rotating the rod to impart rotary movement to the shaft.

3. In arailway, a main rail, a switch tongue arranged adjacent thereto, longitudinally curved actuating arms mounted to swing at opposite sides of'the main rail at a point distant from the switch tongue, a flexible con nection between said arms and the switch tongue, a shaft having vertical swinging connection with the car, a pair of fingers extended in opposite directions from one end of said rod, a pair of fingers extended in opposite direction from the other end of said rod, the first named fingers being at right angles to the last named fingers, a yoke, a rod extended upward from said yoke and having rotary connection with the yoke, a bevel gear connection between said rod and the shaft, a car having a platform through which the rod passes, a casing surrounding the rod a portion above the platform, a sleeve movable in the upper end of said casing in rotary and said sleeve and the car platform, a plate havvertical directions, a spring arranged between ing oppositely disposed pairs of notches, and a cran lever on the upper end of the rod for engaging any one of said notches.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES F. GAY.

IVitnesses:

L. N. MoDoUGALL, M. N. STRATTON. 

